The First Book of Kings


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The First Book of Kings
Chapter Fourteen

The Prophecy of Ahijah, Death of Jeroboam, Rehoboam and the sins of Judah




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Chapter 14


To Hear a Talk based on the Text below:
The Israelites Divided
1-Kings:14
Jeroboam and Abiya, Exile Prodicted, Rehoboam, homosexuality is a curse, Shishak of Egypt
http://www.britam.org/Broadcasts/newBAMBI/1kings14.mp3
(ca. 30 minutes)
Talk may include points not mentioned in the text.


[1-Kings 14:1] AT THAT TIME ABIJAH THE SON OF JEROBOAM FELL SICK.   
 ABIJAH. Pronounced "Abiya" in Modern Hebrew. It means "God is my father".             
 
[1-Kings 14:2] AND JEROBOAM SAID TO HIS WIFE, ARISE, I PRAY THEE, AND DISGUISE THYSELF,  THAT THOU BE NOT KNOWN TO BE THE WIFE OF JEROBOAM; AND GET THEE TO SHILOH: BEHOLD,  THERE IS AHIJAH THE PROPHET, WHICH TOLD ME THAT I SHOULD BE KING OVER THIS PEOPLE.                     
AHIJAH. In Modern Hebrew pronounced as "Ahiyah".
DISGUISE THYSELF
Radak:  #He knew that Ahiyah hated him since he had turned away from God. He said to himself that if Ahiyah will know she is my wife he will only predict something bad. He therefore that to his wife to disguise herself that he should not recognize her as the wife of Jeroboam.#
 
[1-Kings 14:3] AND TAKE WITH THEE TEN LOAVES, AND CRACKNELS, AND A CRUSE OF HONEY,  AND GO TO HIM: HE SHALL TELL THEE WHAT SHALL BECOME OF THE CHILD.                     
CRUSE. In Old English "cruse" meant a small jar or pot.
Hebrew "
bakbook" which in Modern Hebrew means a bottle but in Biblical Hebrew connotes any vessel with a narrow opening.
HONEY. In Hebrew "
devash" which can mean honey from bees or an extract from fruit such as dates.
It was the custom when going to the Prophet to bring a gift cf. 1-Samuel 9:7.
[1-Samuel 9:7] THEN SAID SAUL TO HIS SERVANT, BUT, BEHOLD, IF WE GO, WHAT SHALL WE BRING  THE MAN? FOR THE BREAD IS SPENT IN OUR VESSELS, AND THERE IS NOT A PRESENT TO BRING TO THE   MAN OF GOD: WHAT HAVE WE?                     

 
[1-Kings 14:4] AND JEROBOAM'S WIFE DID SO, AND AROSE, AND WENT TO SHILOH, AND CAME  TO THE HOUSE OF AHIJAH. BUT AHIJAH COULD NOT SEE; FOR HIS EYES WERE SET BY REASON OF HIS AGE.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:5] AND THE LORD SAID UNTO AHIJAH, BEHOLD, THE WIFE OF JEROBOAM  COMETH TO ASK A THING OF THEE FOR HER SON; FOR HE IS SICK: THUS AND THUS SHALT THOU SAY UNTO HER: FOR IT SHALL BE, WHEN SHE COMETH IN, THAT SHE SHALL FEIGN HERSELF TO BE ANOTHER  WOMAN.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:6] AND IT WAS SO, WHEN AHIJAH HEARD THE SOUND OF HER FEET, AS SHE CAME IN AT THE DOOR, THAT HE SAID, COME IN, THOU WIFE OF JEROBOAM; WHY FEIGNEST THOU THYSELF TO BE ANOTHER? FOR I AM SENT TO THEE WITH HEAVY TIDINGS.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:7] GO, TELL JEROBOAM, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL, FORASMUCH AS I EXALTED THEE FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE, AND MADE THEE PRINCE OVER MY PEOPLE ISRAEL,                     
 
[1-Kings 14:8] AND RENT THE KINGDOM AWAY FROM THE HOUSE OF DAVID, AND GAVE IT THEE: AND YET THOU HAST NOT BEEN AS MY SERVANT DAVID, WHO KEPT MY COMMANDMENTS, AND WHO FOLLOWED ME WITH ALL HIS HEART, TO DO THAT ONLY WHICH WAS RIGHT IN MINE EYES;                     
 
[1-Kings 14:9] BUT HAST DONE EVIL ABOVE ALL THAT WERE BEFORE THEE: FOR THOU HAST GONE AND MADE THEE OTHER GODS, AND MOLTEN IMAGES, TO PROVOKE ME TO ANGER, AND HAST  CAST ME BEHIND THY BACK:                     
 
[1-Kings 14:10] THEREFORE, BEHOLD, I WILL BRING EVIL UPON THE HOUSE OF JEROBOAM, AND WILL CUT OFF FROM JEROBOAM HIM THAT PISSETH AGAINST THE WALL, AND HIM THAT IS SHUT UP  AND LEFT IN ISRAEL, AND WILL TAKE AWAY THE REMNANT OF THE HOUSE OF JEROBOAM, AS A  MAN TAKETH AWAY DUNG, TILL IT BE ALL GONE.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:11] HIM THAT DIETH OF JEROBOAM IN THE CITY SHALL THE DOGS EAT; AND HIM THAT  DIETH IN THE FIELD SHALL THE FOWLS OF THE AIR EAT: FOR THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:12] ARISE THOU THEREFORE, GET THEE TO THINE OWN HOUSE: AND WHEN THY FEET ENTER INTO THE CITY, THE CHILD SHALL DIE.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:13] AND ALL ISRAEL SHALL MOURN FOR HIM, AND BURY HIM: FOR HE ONLY OF JEROBOAM SHALL COME TO THE GRAVE, BECAUSE IN HIM THERE IS FOUND SOME GOOD THING TOWARD THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL IN THE HOUSE OF JEROBOAM.
The Commentary, "Mishbetsot Zahav", quotes from the "Beer Moshe" who in turn cites the Zohar Chadash, the Megileh Amukot, and other works. The Zohar Chadash says:
#And that Messiah [Mashiach, i.e. Annointed One] will be from the Tribe of Ephraim of the seed of Jeroboam son of Nebat, a descendant of Abiya who died in his youth. On the day that Abiya died a son was born to him?.and from that son of Abiya  will come the Messiah [son of Joseph] of whom it is written  AND ALL ISRAEL SHALL MOURN FOR HIM, AND BURY HIM  [1-Kings 14:13]. This was a prophecy both for the immediate events and for the distant future FOR HE ONLY OF JEROBOAM SHALL COME TO THE GRAVE, BECAUSE IN HIM THERE IS FOUND SOME GOOD THING this is the Messiah [son of Joseph] in whom will be found SOME GOOD THING TOWARD THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL. #
 
 [cf. AND THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, AND THEY SHALL MOURN FOR HIM, AS ONE MOURNETH FOR HIS ONLY SON[Zechariah 12:10]
Also understandable as saying,
 AND THEY SHALL LOOK UPON HE WHO HAS BEEN PIERCED.

 
The Megaleh Amukot (i.e. Rabbi Nathan Nata Spira,  1585- 1633, Poland) on the above passage from the Zohar says [and we shall paraphrase in the light of the sources quoted]:
 
#The Messiah son of Joseph [is a descendant of] Abiya son of Jeroboam, as it says BECAUSE IN HIM THERE IS FOUND SOME GOOD THING [1-Kings 14:13].  The Ancestors of the Tribes [who were jealous of  Joseph and angry with him] saw that Jeroboam was destined to descend from Joseph?but the Patriarch Jacob [their father] saw further. He foresaw that the Messiah son of Joseph would come from him, that in him would be FOUND SOME GOOD THING [1-Kings 14:13]. This is what it means BUT HIS FATHER KEPT  THE MATTER [Genesis 37:11] {translated in the KJ as BUT HIS FATHER OBSERVED THE SAYING}. 
[The future redemption is described as a time when we shall]                   
COME REJOICING bringing in the sheaves [Psalms 126:6]. [This was foretold when Joseph said to his brothers about a dream in which             
WE WERE BINDING SHEAVES IN THE FIELD [Genesis 37:7][and your sheaves bowed down to mine. This signified that Joseph would rule over them. They were angry as a result of which it came to pass that the Kings that came from Joseph caused the Israelites to worship idols.
Midrash Breishit Rabah 84:10:
 [Genesis 37:7] FOR, BEHOLD, WE WERE BINDING SHEAVES IN THE FIELD, AND, LO, MY SHEAF AROSE,  AND ALSO STOOD UPRIGHT; AND, BEHOLD, YOUR SHEAVES STOOD ROUND ABOUT, AND MADE  OBEISANCE TO MY SHEAF.  
The Hebrew word for MY SHEAF is ALUMATI which came to expression in a negative fashion,
YOU ARE DESTINED TO MAKE DUMB IDOLS [Hebrew Elilim [idols] Alumim [dumb] which sounds similar to ALUMATI (MY SHEAF) by the golden bull calves of Jeroboam and to say,
BEHOLD THY GODS, O ISRAEL [1-Kings 12:28]. [Commentary Yafet Toar: As if the brothers of Joseph due to their jealousy of him caused the kings that came out of him to bring Israel to worship idols. ] Nevertheless, the Messiah son of Joseph, descendant of ] Abiya will bring in the sheaves [ALUMOT] and atone for the DUMB IDOLS of Jeroboam.##
The above Commentary based on the Midrash and other Commentatories is not necessarily making any historical claims but rather pointing out how from Joseph was destined to emerge Jeroboam who himself caused damage but from his descendants will emerge a Savior in the End Times.
 
The whole degeneration of Joseph (representing all the Ten Tribes) with his Exile and losing his Israelite Identity in the End Times will be seen as having fulfilled a Divinely Ordained Plan which will culminate in Joseph returning and rectifying whatever wrong he may have done.
             
 
[1-Kings 14:14] MOREOVER THE LORD SHALL RAISE HIM UP A KING OVER ISRAEL, WHO SHALL CUT OFF THE HOUSE OF JEROBOAM THAT DAY: BUT WHAT? EVEN NOW.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:15] FOR THE LORD SHALL SMITE ISRAEL, AS A REED IS SHAKEN IN THE WATER,  AND HE SHALL ROOT UP ISRAEL OUT OF THIS GOOD LAND, WHICH HE GAVE TO THEIR FATHERS, AND SHALL SCATTER THEM BEYOND THE RIVER, BECAUSE THEY HAVE MADE THEIR GROVES, PROVOKING  THE LORD TO ANGER.   
BEYOND THE RIVER i.e. beyond the Euphrates River.   The Euphrates is the border of the Holy Land
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesLand.html

 The Land of Israel stretches from the western confluences of the Nile Delta, encompasses all Sinai, part of Northern Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, parts of Iraq, southeast Turkey, the island of Cyprus, and reaches along the Euphrates River and beyond.
See Map:

http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesLand.html#Boundaries

The whole Kingdom was destined to be conquered and all the inhabitants exiled. They lost consciousness of their ancestry and became known as the LOST TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL.                  
THEIR GROVES. Hebrew "
Ashayrim".
 
[1-Kings 14:16] AND HE SHALL GIVE ISRAEL UP BECAUSE OF THE SINS OF JEROBOAM, WHO DID SIN, AND WHO MADE ISRAEL TO SIN.  
Jeroboam sinned and made Israel sin but they could have repented.                  
 
[1-Kings 14:17] AND JEROBOAM'S WIFE AROSE, AND DEPARTED, AND CAME TO TIRZAH: AND WHEN SHE CAME TO THE THRESHOLD OF THE DOOR, THE CHILD DIED;                     
TIRZAH. This city was made the capital after Schechem. Tirzah was east of the Jordan. It was renowned for its beauty.
 
THOU ART BEAUTIFUL, O MY LOVE, AS TIRZAH, COMELY AS JERUSALEM... (Song of Solomon 6:4).
 
[1-Kings 14:18] AND THEY BURIED HIM; AND ALL ISRAEL MOURNED FOR HIM, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD, WHICH HE SPAKE BY THE HAND OF HIS SERVANT AHIJAH THE PROPHET.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:19] AND THE REST OF THE ACTS OF JEROBOAM, HOW HE WARRED, AND HOW HE REIGNED, BEHOLD, THEY ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:20] AND THE DAYS WHICH JEROBOAM REIGNED WERE TWO AND TWENTY YEARS:  AND HE SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS, AND NADAB HIS SON REIGNED IN HIS STEAD.                     
NADAB. In Modern Hebrew "Nadav". It means "generous".
According to the simple gist of Scripture Jeroboam comes across as a very negative character.  Nevertheless a deeper nobler element was there.


[1-Kings 14:21] AND REHOBOAM THE SON OF SOLOMON REIGNED IN JUDAH. REHOBOAM  WAS FORTY AND ONE YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN TO REIGN, AND HE REIGNED SEVENTEEN YEARS IN JERUSALEM, THE CITY WHICH THE LORD DID CHOOSE OUT OF ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, TO PUT HIS NAME THERE. AND HIS MOTHER'S NAME WAS NAAMAH AN AMMONITESS. 
The mother of Rehoboam was Naamah the Ammonitess who like Ruth the Moabitess was permitted to become an Israelitess whereas this was forbidden to the males of Moab and Ammon.
Loyalty to David is Required: Ruth and the Oral Tradition
http://britam.org/DavidandOralLaw.html
 
[1-Kings 14:22] AND JUDAH DID EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, AND THEY PROVOKED HIM  TO JEALOUSY WITH THEIR SINS WHICH THEY HAD COMMITTED, ABOVE ALL THAT THEIR FATHERS HAD DONE.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:23] FOR THEY ALSO BUILT THEM HIGH PLACES, AND IMAGES, AND GROVES, ON  EVERY HIGH HILL, AND UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE.   
All these things may have been built for the sake of idolatry or they may have been intended as means to draw close to the Almighty. At all events God was displeased with them.                 
 
[1-Kings 14:24] AND THERE WERE ALSO SODOMITES IN THE LAND: AND THEY DID ACCORDING TO   ALL THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE NATIONS WHICH THE LORD CAST OUT BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF   ISRAEL.                     
SODOMITES. Hebrew "Kadesh" or "Kodesh" which can mean sacred but it also connotes something set aside for a particular purpose, in this case for the purpose of sex. Daat Mikra says that here the intention is to both male and female prostitution in which the fee for the sexual act would be consecrated to the holy places.  Targum Yehonatan renders it as referring to male prostitution i.e. homosexuality and paederasty. Nearly all homosexuality evidently entails an inclination towards young men and even animals.  There is nothing innocent or natural about it. It may be that this affliction has always been amongst us but on the whole when it has been publicly condemned and punished its incidence has been much less.  Either the wrongdoers are punished or they will punish us.
 
[1-Kings 14:25] AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF KING REHOBOAM, THAT SHISHAK KING OF EGYPT CAME UP AGAINST JERUSALEM:
Shishak is identified with Shoshenik (945-922 BCE) king of Egypt.  At Karnak in Egypt has been found a description of his expedition against Judah and Israel. It contains a list of cities in Judah and Israel that he conquered together with depictions of what appear to be the Israelite governors of these cities.  More Israelite cities are mentioned than Judean even though the Bible only recalls his incursion to Judah. At Megiddo in the North of Israel has been found part of a Stelle  recording his conquest of the site.
http://www.katapi.org.uk/BAndS/SheshonkInscription.htm
[Not everybody agrees with the identification of
Shoshenik with Shishak.
see
http://www.biblemysteries.com/lectures/shishak.htm

[1-Kings 14:26] AND HE TOOK AWAY THE TREASURES OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, AND THE  TREASURES OF THE KING'S HOUSE; HE EVEN TOOK AWAY ALL: AND HE TOOK AWAY ALL THE SHIELDS OF GOLD WHICH SOLOMON HAD MADE.                     
 

Shishak Inscription at Karnak, Egypt

Detail from Shishak Inscription. Israelite Leaders



[1-Kings 14:27] AND KING REHOBOAM MADE IN THEIR STEAD BRASEN SHIELDS, AND COMMITTED THEM UNTO THE HANDS OF THE CHIEF OF THE GUARD, WHICH KEPT THE DOOR OF THE  KING'S HOUSE.                     
BRASEN in Hebrew "Nechoshet" usually translated as copper but according to many probably actually meaning bronze which is an alloy of copper and tin.
 
[1-Kings 14:28] AND IT WAS SO, WHEN THE KING WENT INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, THAT  THE GUARD BARE THEM, AND BROUGHT THEM BACK INTO THE GUARD CHAMBER.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:29] NOW THE REST OF THE ACTS OF REHOBOAM, AND ALL THAT HE DID, ARE THEY  NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH?                     
 
[1-Kings 14:30] AND THERE WAS WAR BETWEEN REHOBOAM AND JEROBOAM ALL THEIR DAYS.                     
 
[1-Kings 14:31] AND REHOBOAM SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS, AND WAS BURIED WITH HIS FATHERS  IN THE CITY OF DAVID. AND HIS MOTHER'S NAME WAS NAAMAH AN AMMONITESS. AND  ABIJAM HIS SON REIGNED IN HIS STEAD.
The son of Jeroboam was called Abiya.                  
The son of
Rehoboam was called ABIJAM.
In 2-Chronicles he is called
Abiyah e.g.
[2-Chronicles 12:16] AND
REHOBOAM SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS, AND WAS BURIED IN THE CITY OF DAVID: AND  ABIJAH HIS SON REIGNED IN HIS STEAD.
From this two points are worth noting.
A parallel between the names of the Royal Families of northern Israel with those of Judah.
The term "YAM" was used interchangeably with Yah.
Here we find it used in Judah but archaeologists have noted it most especially in Northern Israel.
In Norse Mythology we have
Ymir who gave rise to the race of the giants and later also to that of mankind.
Yama in India and Yan in Chinese and the Avestan (Zoroastrian  Persian) Yima.
The Ten Tribes were exiled by the Assyrians.
Some of them for a period went eastward before going west. They influenced Indian concepts as well as giving rise to the religion of Zoroaster.  The Persian religion of
Zarathustra (Zoroaster) was originally similar to  that of the Israelites and was based on  Biblical concepts. Later it was taken over by pagan idol worshippers and corrupted.
See our article:
What Spake Zarathustra?
http://britam.org/zarathustra.html


After the Death of Solomon:
The Divided Kingdom

The Divided Kingdom
Source of Map:
www.ebibleteacher.com/imagehtml/otmaps.html






 
1-Kings ch.13
1-Kings Contents
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1-Kings ch.15